Desk set mounting



April 12, 1932. K. s. PARKER ET AL 1,353,876

. DESK SET MOUNTING I Filed April 8, 1931 M780 z 6 IZUL- Patented Apr. 12, 1932 UNITED STATES ATENroFi-lcr:

KENNETH S. PARKER, IVAN D. TEFFT, AND NATHAN W. PAQ'UETTE, OF JANESYILLE,

WISCONSIN, ASSIGNORS TO THE PAR-KER PEN COMPANY, OF JANESVILEFZ, WIS- CONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN DESK 'sm MOUNTING Application filed April 8, 1931. Serial No. 528,606.

Our invention relates to desk sets of that class embodying an object or objects adapted to be mounted upon a support, and it has to do more particularly with a novel form of mounting for attaching such object to its supporting surface. Our invention has utility particularly in desk sets including a base upon which there is mounted a writing instrument receivingreceptacle and/or other objects which are ornamental or otherwise.

One of the objects of our invention is to provide a novel mounting by which an object may be securely attached to the supporting surface but which permits of ready and quick detachment of such object merely by movement of the receptacle away from its support.

Another object is to provide a mounting of the foregoing character wherein the object when attached to its support may be movable angularly and rotatably thereabout, both of wh ch movements are frictionally resisted in such a way as to hold the object yieldably in any one of a number of such positions to which it may be moved.

A further object is to provide a mounting by which the object may be readily mounted in the top of a desk, table, or the like, the object being attachable and detachable at will without marring or impairing the appearance of the supporting surface.

An additional object is to provide such a mounting. which includes, more specifically, a separate socket member adapted to be fixedly mounted in the support (top of desk. table, or-the like) for attachment thereto of object-carried 7 members one of which is adapted for snap-engagement with the support-carried member, in such a manner that the above angular and/or rotatable movements of the object may be accomplished, all

vwithout interfering with the readv assembly and detachability features of the several parts.

Another object is to provide an arrangement wherein the support-carried member is of open-top construction adapted to receive the inter-connecting part of the object-carried unit for supporting the latter yieldably connection with desk sets.

and rotatably therein, there being also provided means for automatically closing the opening in the support-mounted member when the object-carried unit is withdrawn so as to exclude dirt, etc., from such member while the object is detached. This arrangement is quite desirable in the case of a desk or table top mounting, because it avoids a marred appearance such as would result if finished with the writing instrument contained in the receptacle, as at the end of the day in an office, the receptacle may be detached and placed in some suitable place out of the way and for safe keeping. Desk surfaces may be entirely cleared 01f. Another advantage is that furniture, and the like, manufacturers may adopt and equip suitable articles of furniture for desk set receptacles so that desk set users'need only purchase the receptacle and its inter-connected mounting unit, thus eliminating the expense of purchasing a base structure such as now used in This results in a material saving to the user in addition to the convenience afforded by the detachability feature of the receptacle as above more particularly set forth.

A further advantage, so far as other objects are concerned, is that this form of mounting permits of interchangeability and substitution of objects. Dealers may purchase the several objects, bases, etc., separately and assemble them into any combination which he or the customer desires. The user may mount a clock on a table, or other surface, at one time-a writing instrument receptacle at another time-an ash tray at another time-and so on.

Other objects and advantages W111 become Fig. 4 is a section taken substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is another form of'mounting embodying our invention, and showing the same as applied to a wooden, molded, marble, stone, or the like, base; and

Fig. 6 is a section taken substantially on line 6 -6 of Fig. 5.

Our invention is well adapted for either home or ofiice use. The supporting surface,

which we may term the base may be formed of any suitable material, for example, steel, molded composition, wood, marble, stone, etc., and it may take the form of a desk or table top, and, in certain instances a small portable base member may be used. To facilitate explanation of our invention we have shown and described the same in its application to desk sets including a base supporting a writing-instrument receiving-receptacle.

Now referring to the drawings and particularly the form of Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, the base 10 which (in this form) may be made of steel or some other metal, is provided with an opening 11 extending therethrough in which is received an elongated tubular socket member 12 (which we may term the base socket) having its upper end open and its lower end closed. The upper end of the socket 12 is flanged outwardly at 13 and this flange seats upon the top of the base to support such socket in position in the base opening. The socket 12 is provided with an exterior threaded portion 14 of suflicient length to project beneath the base opening for reception of a. nut 15 which, when tightened in place, engages the base beneath the opening 11 and securely locks this base socket in place therein. The closed bottom of the member 12 serves as a seat for a spring 16 which actuates a closing'disk l7 slidably mounted within the member 12 and movable by said spring to the upper end of such member to close its open-top end, preventing, when the receptacle unit is removed, the entry of dirt, etc., into the socket. To limit the extent to which the vspring 16 moves the disk 17, and to insure its flush relationship with the member flange 13 (when the receptacle unit is removedsee Fig, 3), the disk 17 is provided with a depending stem 18 which projects through a suitable opening in the bottom of the socket 12 for reception of a stop element 19 adapted to engage the outer bottom surface of the socket.

The receptacle unit includes the receptacle 20 connected at its lower end to a ball 21 which is seated and confined in the socket member 22 (which we may term the receptacle socket) for universal movement of the receptacle to a plurality of angular positions above and with respect to the base 10. The socket member: 22 is provided at one side with a recess 23 which is adapted'to receive the stem 21 connecting the ball 21 to the receptacle 20 to permit the receptacle to be moved down to a substantially flat position with respect to the base. The lower inner portion of the socket 22 is thr aded as at 24; for the reception of the threaded neck 25 of a depending inter-connecting member 26. This threaded neck is flanged outwardly to a slight extent as at 27 and seats in an enlarged bore in the bottom of the socket so that when the member 26 is secured to the socket 22 the socket will seat flush upon the flange 13 of the base socket 12. The inter-connecting member 26 is provided with a depending tubular portion 28 which is slit-,

. ber 12, and this bead 30 is adapted to snap- -engage in an interior annular groove 31 formed, at the proper point (as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3) in the base socket 12 to releasably lock the receptacle unit in the base member. This attachment is accomplished by merely moving the tubular portion 26 of the unit into the base socket 12 and forcing it home until the receptacle socket 22 seats upon the flange 13. To detach these parts, it is necessary only to pull axially outwardly on the receptacle unit with sufiicient force to disengage the bead 30 from the groove 31 with consequent compression of the wall sections of the depending portion 26. It is obvious that with this arrangement, the receptacle unit may be rotated bodily (as when the stem 21 is engaged in the socket recess 23 and the receptacle is in a substantially flat condition) to any desired position around the base and the frictional engagement as between the parts 26 and 12 and the bead 30 in groove 31 is suflicient to tension this action so as to hold the receptacle in any position to which it may thus be rotated.

We also tension the angular movements of the receptacle so as to hold the same inany of its angular positions to which it may be moved. Specifically, a spring 32 is seated upon the closed bottom of the tu'biilar portion 26 and its upper end presses a disk 33 upwardly against the bottom of the ball 21 to frictionally engage the ball with its socketseating surface 22 as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

In the event that it is desired to mount the receptacle unit in the top of a desk or table formed of wood, we preferably employ the construction shown in Fig. 5. This arrangement is substantially the same as that of Figs. 2 and 3 except as to the form of the base-mounted socket member. More partlcularly, the wooden support 34 is provided with a suitable opening 35 and in'thls opening we press-fit thedaase socket member 36, the lnterior of which is like that of the form of Flg. 2. The upper end of this member 36 1s flanged outwardly as at 37 and is countersunk in the top of the base 34 so that when the receptacle unit socket 38 is fully engaged therein, it will seat substantially flush wlth the top of the base surface. In this particular form, the bottom of the base member 36 is closed by a suitable disk 39, held in place by upsetting the lower edge of the member 36, which d1sk supports the spring 40 for operating the closing disk 41 which is slmilar in construction and operation to the disk 17 of the form of Fig. 2.

The advantages and mode of operation of our inventionw-ill be obvious from the foregoing. Any desired object maybe substituted for the receptacle 20. 'Several difierent objects may be mounted on a single base.

If a user wants to substitute one object for another he may readily do so upon purchase merely of the desired object; hence, various desk set combinations may be had from time to time with but little expense to the user; The ball mounting may be used, if 'de:

sired, for objects other than receiving-receptacles; or such other objects may be connected immovably to a member corresponding to the socket 22 of Fig. 2.

'While we have shown and described only two forms of our invention, it will be understood that further changes in details and ar-' rangements of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention as defined in the claims which follow. i

We claim:

1. In a set of the character described, an object adapted to be mounted upon a support,

' and means for mounting said object on said v moved therefrom.

2. A desk set object mounting which comprises a socket member having an opening at one end, means insertable in said socket opening and frictionall engageable therein and connected to the o ject for interconnecting the object to said socket member, and means for closing said socket opening when said object-connected means is withdrawn from said socket member.

3. A desk set mounting which comprises a said socket opening as said object-connected means is withdrawn from said socket member.

4. A socket member having an opening at one end, means insertable in said socket opening and frictionally engageable therein and con nected to an object to be supported for interconnecting the object to said socket member, a closure disk slidably mounted in said socket member, a spring normally urging said disk toward said socket member opening for closure of the same when said object-connected means is withdrawn, said closure disk being depressible by and as said object-connected means is inserted within said socket opening.

5. A desk set mounting which comprises a socket member having an opening at one end, means insertable in said socket opening and frictionally engageable therein and connected to an object to be supported for interconnecting the object to said socket member, a closure disk slidably mounted in said socket member, a spring normally urging said disk toward said socket member opening for closure of the same when said object-connected means is withdrawn, said closure disk being depressible by and as said object-connected means is inserted within said socket opening, and means limiting the closing movement of said disk to a position wherein it is flush with the entrance to said socket opening.

6. In a desk set, a receptacle, or otherobject, adapted to be mounted upon a base having an opening, means for mounting said receptacle on the base which comprises an elongated. tubular member adapted to be inserted in the base opening, 'means for detachably securing said member in place, the

inner wall of said member having an annular groove, a ball-and-socket connection on said receptacle, a tubular member connected to said ball-and-socket and adapted. to be frictionally engaged in said base-mounted tubular member, and means on said ball-andsocket-cargied tubular member engaging said annular groove for releasably securing said tubular members together by which said tubular members may be fully connected or desk set mounting which comprises a disconnected merely by relative axial movement thereof.

7. In adesk set, a receptacle, or other object, adapted to be mounted on a base having an opening, a socket member open at one end and adapted to be mounted in the base opening, means carried by said receptacle for angular swinging movement of said recepta-. cle, said means including a tubular member having a yieldable wall adapted to be inserted in and frictionally engage said basemounted socket member, means releasably securing said members together for ready mounting and detachment of said receptacle, and means closing said socket opening when said receptacle-carried means is detached.

8. In a desk set, a writing instrument receiving-receptacle, or other object, adapted to be mounted on a base having an opening, a socket member open at one end and adapted to be mounted in the base opening, means carried by said receptacle for angular swinging movement of said receptacle, said means including a tubular member having a yieldable wall adapted to be inserted in and frictionally engage said base-mounted socket member, means releasably securing said members together for ready mounting and detachment of said receptacle, and means self-closing the open end of said socket member when saidtubular member is withdrawn therefrom. v

9. In adesk set, a receptacle, or other object, adapted to be mounted on a base having an opening therein, means for swingably mounting said receptacle on said base including a socket element, a socket member adapted to be mounted in said base opening, and a connecting member detachably carried by said socket element and having means releasably engaging the same in said socket member for attachment or detachment merely by relative axial movement between said socket element and socket member.

10. In a desk set, a receptacle, or other object, adapted to be mounted on a base, means for swingably mounting said receptacle on said base including a socket member secured in the base against. axial displacement, another socket memberadapted to be mounted in said first socket member, and a connecting member carried by said second socket mem ber and having a yieldable wall insertable in said first socket member, and means carried by said yieldable wall and engageable with the wall of said first socket member for releasably securing said connecting member and first socket member together for detachment by relative axial movement between other member adapted to be associated with the receptacle, or other object, and having a tubular wall part longitudinally slitted adapted to frictionally'fit into said tubular member, an element on said slitted wall part adapted to engage said groove when said tubular wall part is inserted in said tubular member for releasably attaching said members together, and means closing the open end of said tubular member as said other member is removed from said tubular member.

12. A mounting unit for a receptacle, or other object, of a desk set which comprises a tubular member open at one end and having an annular groove in its inner wall, another member adapted to be associated with the receptacle and having a tubular wall part longitudinally slitted adapted to frictionally fit into said tubular member, an element on said slitted Wall part adapted to engage said groove when said tubular wall part is inserted in said tubular member for releasably attaching said members together, and means for automatically closing the open end of said tubular member when said tubular wall part is withdrawn therefrom.

KENNETH S. PARKER. IVAN D. TEFFT. NATHAN W. PAQUETTE.

said first socket member and said connecting member. I 1

11, A mounting unit for a receptacle, or

other object, of a desk set which comprises a tubular member open at one endand havmg an annular groove n its inner wall, an- 

